My Culinary Adventures: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

I've had this bag of chocolate chips sitting in my fridge for quite a while because the climate is too hot here to leave them out.  I had another bag that I did leave out, and the chips all melted together to form one big block, which I slowly gnawed away at over the months.  I suppose I could have put it to better use and made something by melting the chocolate in a saucepan, but it was a fast and easy way to satisfy my chocolate cravings and I'd only have to nibble off a little bit every time.  I'm due to receive a box of goodies pretty soon from my uncle, and I know there's another bag of chocolate chips in there so I decided to bake something last night that I could share with some friends today after they get done doing their topographical study.  I had never made any sort of "Blondie" before, but these turned out rich and delicious with a big glass of milk!  The only problem I had was that the refrigerated chocolate chips I folded into the batter melted really quickly before I could even get the pan into the toaster oven.  I guess we could call them Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Swirl Blondies?  :)

Recipe

Adapted from The Sweetest Kitchen

Ingredients

1/2 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8×8″ square pan and set aside (I used a round pan).
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from the heat, and stir in the peanut butter. Allow to cool while combining the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the egg to the peanut butter mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared dry ingredients, and stir to create a thick, smooth batter. Fold in half the chocolate chips, reserving the rest for sprinkling on top.
4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading the batter evenly to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and lightly press them into the batter.
5. Bake for 25 minutes until the top is golden and the edges are slightly browned. Allow to cool in the pan. Cut into squares and serve.